Weekend Link Roundup (January 16-17, 2016)
January 17, 2016
Our weekly round up of noteworthy items from and about the social sector. For more links to great content, follow us on Twitter at @pndblog....
Diversity
A new report on workforce diversity in the metro Pittsburgh region is not only an incredibly important data set, writes Grant Oliphant, president of the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Endowments. It's also a reminder that the the issues the report points to are NOT just a matter of perspective, are NOT just a concern for minorities, and are NOT unfixable.
Economy
Although long-term unemployment has fallen significantly since the Great Recession, the decline has been slow and long-term unemployment still remains high. Congress could do something to address the situation, write Harry Stein and Shirley Sagawa on the Center for American Progress site, by following through with funding for the "significant" expansion of national service programs like AmeriCorps it authorized back in 2009.
Education
Can the Hastings Fund, the $100 million philanthropic entity created by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, avoid the controversy and criticism that have greeted the education reform efforts of other tech moguls? The Christian Science Monitor's Molly Jackson reports.
Immigration
"Like it or not, integration has been happening over America’s 239-year history, as members of both groups —immigrants and the U.S.-born — continually come to resemble one another. And America has benefited greatly from the economic vitality and cultural vibrancy that immigrants and their descendants have brought and continue to contribute." Writing in Fortune, Audrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the National Academies of Sciences panel on immigrant integration, reminds us what we are missing about the immigration debate.
International Affairs/Development
On the HistPhil blog, Ruth Levine, director of the Global Development and Population Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and her father, Gilbert, professor emeritus of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University, review David Rieff's new book, The Reproach of Hunger.
In a post on the Development Set, a space created by Medium for discussions of global health and development issues, Courtney Martin offers some compelling advice to young activists, advocates, and entrepreneurs interested in creating a life of meaning by helping to solve pressing social problems in the developing countries.
On the Knight Foundation blog, Jennifer Preston, the foundation's vice resident for journalism, explains how the new ownership model for Philadelphia's two major newspapers could herald a brighter future for hard-pressed legacy news organizations.
Nonprofits
Beth Kanter shares a nice slide dek full of practical tips and techniques for individuals working at nonprofits who want to develop more energy and avoid burnout in 2016.
Philanthropy
Ben Soskis, co-editor of the HistPhil blog and a fellow at the Center for Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy and Policy at George Mason University, pushes back a bit against an earlier post by Ryan Schlegel on the NCRP blog questioning "some of the breathless celebration...surrounding the promotion of 'hacker philanthropy', the term that Sean Parker coined in a Wall Street Journal op-ed to describe the giving of his tech mogul peers."
On Foundation Center's Transparency Talk blog, Krystian Seibert, policy and research manager at Philanthropy Australia, argues argues that "big" philanthropy's ability to create real impact depends in part on "social license" -- a level of consent or approval granted to a philanthropic entity by the community and other stakeholders.
NCRP, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, is seeking nominations for its 2016 NCRP Impact Awards. Now in its fourth year, the awards "celebrate U.S. foundations that attack the root causes of social problems, empower underserved communities and demonstrate public leadership." Awards will be given in four categories -- Large Private Foundations, Small/Midsize Foundations, Corporate Foundations, and Grantmaking Public Charities -- and nominations must be submitted by January 22, so don't wait to submit your nomination(s).
Poverty
Findings from the latest Unheard Third poll, the Community Service Society’s annual survey of New York City residents, show that a vast majority of low-income New Yorkers feel they are not making progress moving up the economic ladder, with low-income Latinos faring the worst.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Republican Party and some of the party's candidates for president are paying attention to the issue of poverty, writes New York Times economics columnist Eduardo Porter. And it turns out they have a coherent theory about entrenched poverty in America "that fits well with their underlying worldview: it's largely the government's fault."
Social Change
David Bowie pushed boundaries, challenged norms, and helped pop culture become more inclusive. In Yes! magazine, Liz Pleasant and James Trimarco share three ways you can bring that spirit to your social change work.
On the Living Cities blog, Ben Hecht, the organization's president and CEO, launches a new series on the "accelerants that are putting U.S. cities on the verge of something special" with a look at the first of those accelerants, public will.
DoGooder, an online and live event platform designed to foster collaboration, strengthen community, and showcase innovation in social impact video, is now accepting submissions for its 10th Annual DoGooder Awards. Submissions in two categories -- Best Nonprofit Video Award (honoring nonprofit organizations using video to make change) and Funny for Good Award (recognizing effective use of comedy to make people laugh and take action) -- will be accepted through February 12. The public will then have the opportunity to vote for the best among the finalists between February 22 and March 21. The winning videos in each category receive free registration to next year's Nonprofit Technology Conference and will be recognized at the NTC 2016 in San Jose, California.
Transparency
And in a post on his Nonprofit Chronicles blog, Marc Gunther considers the state of transparency in the foundation world and concludes that while he supposes "the knowledge that foundations generate when they evaluate their work is immensely valuable...I have to guess because for most foundations, there's no way to know."
That's it for this week. What have you been reading/watching/listening to? Drop us a line at mfn@foundationcenter.org or via the comments section below....
Posted by Jane | January 17, 2016 at 08:40 PM
Speaking of journalism, I saw a unique article about a woman named Katherine Schneider who has started an award for journalists who accurately portray the lives of people with disabilities. She has a similar award for children's books.
http://www.leadertelegram.com/Features/On-Campus/2016/01/17/Journalism-award-prompts-disability-focus.html#.VpuKvG8iwnQ.twitter